Numerous designs for scuba gear components have been disclosed in the prior art to facilitate use of the gear by divers. lt is of course important for the diver to be able to rapidly and effectively manipulate the scuba gear for maintaining a supply of air to support breathing, for regulating buoyancy of the diver under water and for permitting the diver to return to the surface, possibly under emergency conditions.
In the event that the diver desires to return to the surface, particularly under emergency conditions, the safety of the diver is of course of primary importance. However, it is also desirable that he be able to either keep the relatively expensive scuba gear with him as he returns to the surface or to have the scuba gear return to the surface by itself. This capability is important not only to recover the scuba gear but also for providing mental assurance to the diver so that he is more positively conditioned to release or jettison all or part of the scuba gear in the event of a potential emergency. In such situations, the knowledge by the diver that the scuba gear will not be lost will enable him to more readily jettison the gear and thereby enable him to readily deal with emergency conditions under water.
As is well known among those who commonly use such gear for underwater diving, the term "scuba" is an acronym for self-contained, underwater breathing apparatus. Scuba apparatus or gear commonly includes a tank containing compressed air in order to provide the diver with an underwater supply of air or oxygen. The tank is commonly mounted on the diver's upper torso or back by means of a suitable backpack. Scuba gear also commonly includes a buoyancy compensator which the diver wears and can selectively pressurize in order to adjust his buoyancy under water.
Scuba gear for use in situations of the type outline above was disclosed in copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 747,005 and now U.S. Pat. No. 4,681,552, entitled C0MBINED LIFE VEST DEVICE AND BUOYANCY COMPENSATOR, filed on June 20, 1985 by William L. Courtney and copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 664,238 entitled SCUBA GEAR WITH COMBINED FLOTATlON AND TRANSPORT DEVICE, filed on Oct. 24, 1984 also by William L. Courtney. The second reference noted above related to a backpack including quick release means so that the diver could readily free himself from the compressed air tank. An inflatable transport raft was secured to the tank for the purpose of returning the tank to the surface and also to provide transport means for the diver on the surface of the water.
The first reference noted above related to a combined life vest device and buoyancy compensator comprising separate inflatable chambers so that the diver could adjust his underwater buoyancy without interfering with his freedom of movement, the diver also being able to selectively inflate the life vest when necessary or desirable.
Those copending applications are incorporated herein as though set out in their entirety to assure a more complete understanding of the present invention since certain features fro those references are included in the following disclosure.
Various combinations of components for scuba gear have been disclosed in the prior art. For example, Maness U.S. Pat. No. 4,324,234 disclosed a personal flotation device containing two structurally and functionally independent chambers for assisting pilots and other passengers in helicopters and the like to escape after emergency landings at sea. The Maness patent also disclosed a rebreathing tube to permit the wearer to use the flotation device as an emergency air supply.
Other prior art references include, for example, Scott U.S. Pat. 4,176,418 issued Dec. 4, 1979; Roberts U.S. Pat. No. 3,747,140 issued July 24, 1973; Walters U.S. Pat. No. 4,016,616 issued April 12, 1977; Walters U.S. Pat. 3,670,509 issued June 20, 1972; and Greenwood U.S. Pat. No. 3,436,777 issued Apr. 8, 1969.
The Scott patent disclosed apparatus for regulating pressurization of a buoyancy compensator from a tank of compressed air.
The Roberts patent disclosed the use of inflation apparatus with a quick release coupling for interconnecting a compressed air tank with a buoyancy compensator in the form of an inner tube and commonly referred to as a "horse collar".
The two Walters patents disclosed similar scuba gear with an inflatable buoyancy compensator secured to the compressed air tank and mounted on the same backpack as the air tank. Through this combination, the diver could inflate the buoyancy compensator in order to adjust his effective underwater weight or buoyancy. The earlier Walters patent in particular also disclosed the backpack being hollow to provide a chamber for containing ballast. As noted in the Walters patents, it is not always possible to accurately predict the amount of extra weight a diver must wear in order to achieve neutral or slightly negative buoyancy under water. Accordingly, the Walters backpack provided a compartment for receiving a variable amount of ballast at least to the extent of the interior volume of the backpack. At the same time, the Walters buoyancy compensator could be inflated or deflated as necessary in order to maintain desired underwater buoyancy.
The Walters ballast is described as being releasable in that a door on the hackpack can be opened by the diver to permit particles of ballast to escape and reduce the ballast carried by the diver. However, the Walters system is believed to be susceptible to corrosion so that significant mechanical leverage is required to release the ballast. After substantial periods of time, it might not even be possible for the diver to even open the door and release the ballast. Also, after the ballast is released irom the Walters backpack, it is lost and not available for later use. Thus, the cost of replacing the ballast could interfere with judicious operation of the scuba equipment by the diver unlike the present invention, as described in greater detail below.
Additionally, known prior art scuba systems have operated with unique ballast systems configured for specific applications so that the diver must transport duplicate ballast systems to the dive site if he anticipates different diving conditions, for example, free diving or "skin diving" before or after scuba diving. Furthermore, current ballast systems other than weight belts have been located substantially above the divers normal center of gravity. This arrangement has compromised the ability of the diver to move out of the water, particularly during entry and exit through heavy surf which could much more easily set the diver with substantial weight located above his normal center of gravity.
In addition to problems suggested in the above noted references, it is also desirable for a diver to be able to deal with or overcome difficulties in a variety of situations. Greenwood in particular provided adjustable buoyancy in a buoyancy compensator while permitting the diver to rapidly jettison all or part of his scuba gear. However, after being jettisoned or discarded under water, the scuba gear was not readily recoverable.
In this regard, when a diver removes his compressed air tank or other scuba gear components before returning to the surface, under emergency conditions or otherwise, it is desirable to provide flotation means for permitting the tank and other scuba gear components to return to the surface for recovery and reuse by the diver. As noted above, this is particularly desirable since it conditions the diver to more readily discard his scuba gear when necessary, thus enabling him to more effectively deal with threatened emergency situations in timely fashion.
Furthermore, in the use of scuba gear as disclosed by all of the above noted patents, the generally bulky configuration of the scuba gear tends to interfere with rapid and efficient underwater movement of the diver, particularly divers operating in kelp, for example. Obviously, it remains desirable to facilitate movement of the diver under water in order to permit him to conserve his strength and to accomplish more during each dive.
At the same time, it is also apparent that scuba gear construction, as exemplified by the above references, is relatively complex. Thus, the diver is required to perform numerous operations while under water in order to maintain the scuba gear in proper operating condition. For example, the diver must continually adjust the degree of inflation in his buoyancy compensator in order to maintain the desired degree of buoyancy at any depth.
Also, the diver's wet or dry suit experiences increased compression due to greater pressures at increased underwater depths. Accordingly, as the diver descends into the water and later ascends out of the water, the varying compression of his diving suit tends to cause increased or decreased "slack" in straps which secure the scuba gear to the diver's body. Commonly, as the diver descends into the water and his suit becomes more compressed by greater pressure, it is necessary to take up some slack in the straps so that various components of his scuba gear remain firmly in place. Similarly, as the diver rises through the water after completing a dive, his suit decompresses and it is necessary to increase slack in the straps so that they do not become overly binding on the diver.
Additional prior art designs for scuba gear have provided mechanical compensators in the straps to provide some automatic adjustment in this regard. However, these designs have relied upon operation of mechanical tensioning components in which excess tension is generated mechanically before the dive in order to absorb slack developing during the dive as the diver's suit compresses. The effectiveness of these systems is limited in that the mechanism can generate only as much tension as the diver can tolerate on the surface of the water. Thus, their effectiveness is limited, particularly for dives to greater depths where increased compression of the diver's suit is experienced. In such circumstances, tensioning mechanisms of the type referred to above may not be able to satisfactorily absorb all slack developed in the diver's straps.
Accordingly, there has been found to remain a need for improved scuba gear capable of facilitating its use by a diver under water while making it easier for the diver to function under water and to assure the safe return of the diver and his equipment to the surface when desired or necessary.